Cer-dip lead frames to which ceramic bases of chips are secured are well known in the semiconductor field and have been used in many different forms in the past in ceramic packaging technology. The lead frame are generally made from a very thin strip of aluminum/nickel/iron alloy and formed into the lead frame shape by a series of stamping operations. In the past, objections were found in the manner in which the lead frames were taken from the last stamping operation and placed by hand physically into paper boxes for transit in a plastic top-bottom container to the next cer-dip assembly operation, which could involve shipment by truck, air etc.
Because of the delicate and fragile nature of the lead frames past cartridges did not provide adequate protection from damage and/or objectionable deflection of certain portions of the frames during transit. Also when the cartridge containing the lead frames were transported to the next cer-dip assembly operation they necessitated physical removal by hand from the container and boxes in order to load the raw lead frames into magazines for the next cer-dip assembly operation.